ANI | Glasgow
|
August 12, 2016

The father of three from Yorkshire was handed a life sentence at the High Court in Glasgow after admitting to the murder

A Muslim taxi driver Tanveer Ahmed has been jailed for at least 27 years for murdering a shopkeeper who he believed had “disrespected Islam”.

According to the London-based daily, The Nation, 32-year old Tanveer Ahmed travelled from Bradford, Yorkshire to Glasgow to confront Asad Shah at his newsagents shop before stabbing the 40-year-old to death with a knife.

Tanveer Ahmed, who was not acquainted with Asad Shah, said he had been offended by clips the shopkeeper had uploaded online, which he claimed “disrespected the Prophet Mohammed”.

The father of three from Yorkshire was handed a life sentence at the High Court in Glasgow after admitting to the murder in Glasgow’s Shawlands area on 24 March.

Ahmed watched one of Mr Shah's clips on his phone as he travelled to Glasgow on the day of the murder.

He was heard in a phone message saying: “Listen to this guy, something needs to be done, it needs to be nipped in the bud”. Tanveer Ahmed said he warned the shopkeeper he would kill him and asked him to stop claiming to be a prophet upon arriving at the shop.

Asad Shah’s brother and a shop assistant attempted to stop Ahmed as he began to attack him. The Shah family, who moved from Pakistan to Scotland in the 1990s to escape persecution, belong to the Ahmadi sect of Islam whose beliefs differ from the majority of Muslims.

In a statement released through his lawyer after the killing, Tanveer Ahmed said: “If I had not done this others would have and there would be more killings and violence in the world.”

Judge Lady Rae told Tanveer Ahmed he must serve a minimum of 27 years in jail before being considered for release. Jailing him for life at the same court, judge Lady Rae told Ahmed: "This was a barbaric, premeditated and wholly unjustified killing of a much loved man who was a pillar of the local community.

"He was described as a peaceful and peace-loving man and family man who went out of his way to show respect for those of any faith."

The judge branded the attack as "an appalling display of merciless violence". Lady Rae added: "No-one in any civilised country including Scotland has the right to take the life of another whatever offence that individual perceives that he or she has suffered."